MOVIE REVIEW

Which almost guaranteed the creation of this second film — which makes raunchy comedy out of alcoholic blackouts, prostitutes, drugs, senseless violence, tiny male genitalia and a Mike Tyson tattoo.

Except it feels a little bit like that fourth dirty martini – not a good idea at the time, and probably to be regretted later.

The new movie reunites the “wolf pack” of the first film – party animal Bradley Cooper, awkward nerd Ed Helms and madman Zach Galifianakis – and drops them in Thailand, where Helms is getting married.

But as Helms confesses, “I’m still putting the broken pieces of my psyche together” after Las Vegas. So he insists – no drugs, no booze, no hookers, no repeat of their last bachelor party.

Except what follows is a complete repeat of Las Vegas — and, unfortunately, the first film.

There’s a slightly nastier edge and an escalation (the first film had a missing tooth, this one a missing finger) but it’s basically the same movie – three manic guys, dripping flop sweat, trying to find a missing person (and trying to remember just what in hell they did the night before).

The leads are all fine, although they’ve been doing these characters in one film or another for years – Cooper as the sly operator, Helms as the decent square, Galifianakis as John Belushi’s bearded evil twin. They all know what they’re doing, sure, but, by now, so do we.

And while the Thai scenery is pretty, the movie depicts the entire country as either a luxury resort or a steaming slum. (Then again, the same all-or-nothing attitude applies to the female characters, who are either accommodating prostitutes or extremely forgiving wives.)

It’s all been-there, drunk-that. Apart from a few fresh jokes (the best, and broadest, saved for the final credit sequence) the film remains content to just repeat the old situations, rather than using them a springboard for anything new, hoping to coast by on good will and vague memories.

But if you want to see it happening again, save yourself the price of a new ticket and go rent the original. And if you want to see a good new dirty-joke comedy, go see “Bridesmaids” – before the sequel monsters get their hands on that one, too.